Missouri River water levels peak around Omaha, but more rain likely coming (2024)

The Missouri River reached its high-water mark in Omaha and areas to the north over the weekend, and storms overnight Monday and Tuesday were not expected to alter its continued decline.

Nor were rains in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa expected to significantly impact river crests south of Omaha until the Missouri rolls south of Rulo, Nebraska, federal officials said during a call Monday. However, they stressed they continue to closely monitor the situation.

On Saturday, the river’s water level reached 32.79 feet in the Omaha area, according to a preliminary measure from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That mark ranked the fourth-highest crest in the area for the river in the Omaha area. The Missouri River’s highest crest was 40.2 feet on April 18, 1952. The third-highest came at 34.4 feet on March 17, 2019.

The recent mark fell more than 2 feet below what hydrologists had previously projected. Last week, hydrologists projected an initial crest of 35.1 feet. That forecast was revised later in the week for the river to reach 35.4 feet.

The Missouri River’s water level in the Omaha area has since declined to about 30 feet, according to the NOAA’s river gauge, as flooding has receded from the moderate stage to minor. A flood warning pertaining to the Missouri River remained in effect until Tuesday evening.

The receding floodwaters led Iowa Department of Transportation officials to plan on partially reopening Interstates 680 and 29 north of Omaha. In a conference call Monday, transportation officials expressed confidence that one lane in each direction along those interstates will be open to traffic before the Fourth of July holiday on Thursday.

Officials added the lanes may be available as early as Tuesday afternoon or early Wednesday. Department crews are pushing debris to the sides of the roadways and a contractor will remove it.

Wind, rain expected to roll through Nebraska Monday night

The decline in the Missouri River’s water levels around and north of the Omaha area occurred just before more severe weather and rain is forecast to hit much of Nebraska early this week.

Brian Barjenbruch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Valley, said some areas could see more than 3 inches of rain.

“Somewhere in there, there will be a band of heavy rain. It’s just a matter of where it will develop,” Barjenbruch said.

Meteorologists were “still working on nailing down” the exact areas of where the most impactful of storms could come through, Barjenbruch said.

While the storm system’s worst effects are likely to stay west of Omaha, the metro area could see high winds and quite a bit of rain, Barjenbruch said. The storm system was forecast to hit the Omaha and Lincoln areas overnight Monday, weather service meteorologist Clint Aegerter said, and clear out early Tuesday morning.

The storm system follows what was a rainy Monday morning in Nebraska. Barjenbruch said the weather service recorded 0.65 of an inch of rain at its Valley office. Meanwhile, the David City area, which sits about 70 miles west of Omaha, had more than 2 inches. The weather service received reports of more than 1 inch of rain in Lincoln.

The Omaha and Lincoln areas are on the edge of another storm system expected to mainly hit southern Iowa and the extreme southeast edge of Nebraska Tuesday afternoon. That projected system could produce hail, flooding and a tornadoes, Aegerter said.

How the rain will affect the Missouri River’s flood levels remains to be seen.

“The Missouri River itself responds fairly slowly,” Barjenbruch said. “Any rainwater that does fall will eventually get into the Missouri. But unless (the rain) falls just right on it, it takes a little while for the Missouri to make a notable rise, especially when it’s this high already.”